ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines how bidding processes work, both in theory and practice. It identifies two principal bid strategies used by candidate cities or nations: reward and scholarship. Successful bids make use of emotive rhetoric and clever storytelling narratives to supplement their technical competence and gain support. The chapter argues that bidding processes are multi-dimensional, with successful candidates recognising that a bid need not only be positioned solely in response to the stated bid criteria. Rather, bids compete tactically against, and in response to, competitors in the bid process. The chapter examines the historical context in which bidding contests are situated, emphasising the need to understand not just how a bid is situated in reference to the specific iteration of the event it seeks to host, but also to the recent history of that event, in general. The example of competitive positioning is best examined by returning to look at Glasgow's ultimately successful bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
